WHAT IF IF ONLY – how many times must that have been said of a best beloved who has died. If only I had, what if this or that hadn’t happened?
NEWS: Royal Court Theatre announces its reopening programme
London’s Royal Court Theatre has announced its reopening programme, running from 16 June to 18 December 2021. Highlights include: seven methods of killing kylie jenner by Jasmine Lee-Jones, The Song Project created by Chloe Lamford, Wende, Isobel Waller-Bridge and Imogen Knight, Is God Is by Aleshea Harris, What If If Only by Caryl Churchill and Rare Earth Mettle by Al Smith.
‘The camera captures Benedict Wong’s perfectly nuanced performance’: THE ARREST OF AI WEIWEI – Hampstead Theatre (Online review)
Howard Brenton’s docu-drama about the harassment of the Chinese artist is imbued with fresh urgency and relevance.
NEWS: Hampstead Theatre will stream series of hit productions for free
Hampstead Theatre, in partnership with The Guardian, is going to stream a series of hit productions from its digital archive for free.
‘It’s hard to be sure exactly what the play is saying’: THE WELKIN – National Theatre
Maxine Peake struggles to make the voice of reason heard in the rather reactionary feminist history play The Welkin at the National Theatre.
‘Linguistically agile, theatrically pleasurable & emotionally dark’: GLASS. KILL. BLUEBEARD. IMP – Royal Court Theatre
Caryl Churchill’s Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. at the Royal Court is wonderfully bright and incisively perceptive.
‘Churchill’s fine writing has the cast to match’: GLASS. KILL. BLUEBEARD. IMP – Royal Court Theatre
Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp creates an essential piece of new writing – edgy, haunting and disconcertingly relevant and Caryl Churchill, at the age of 81, is still the playwright for our times.
How the Mates Rate: The Night Of The Iguana at the Noel Coward Theatre
Clive Owen has returned to the West End for the first time in 18 years to play the Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon in Tennessee Williams’ The Night Of The Iguana in a new production directed by James Macdonald. So what did the Mates think of this production?
‘The three leads seem to lack chemistry’: THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA – West End
James Macdonald is the latest director to tackle The Night of the Iguana, perhaps best known from its film adaptation starring Richard Burton , Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: The Night of the Iguana at Noel Coward Theatre
Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews for James Macdonald’s production of The Night of the Iguana starring Clive Owen.
‘An essentially serious play for serious people’: THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA – West End
Star cast delivers a terrific revival of Tennessee Williams’s last masterpiece The Night of the Iguana at the Noel Coward Theatre.
‘Worth the price of a ticket simply to watch Lia Williams’: THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA – West End ★★★
The Night of the Iguana takes three hours to tell a fairly simple story which could be done in 30 minutes, but it is worth the price of a ticket simply to watch Lia Williams deliver an outstanding performance as one of Tennessee Williams’ great, but unsung, female characters.
‘Thrilled to have been there’: THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA – West End ★★★★
Clive Owen and Lia Williams do justice to the wild lush text of The Night Of The Iguana at the Noel Coward Theatre, rich in wonder and filth, corruption and beauty.
‘Clive Owen makes a superb return to the stage’: THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA – West End
Gripping performances from Clive Owen and Lia Williams, and James Macdonald’s slow-burn direction allows Tennessee Williams’ writing in The Night Of The Iguana to cast its spell.
NEWS: Clive Owen will return to the West End for the first time in 18 years in The Night Of The Iguana
Clive Owen will return to the West End for the first time in 18 years to play the Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon in The Night Of The Iguana in a new production directed by James Macdonald. The production will begin performances at the Noël Coward Theatre on 6 July 2019 (press night is 16 July) and runs until 28 September.
‘Deftly shows individual moments of grief’: ONE FOR SORROW – Royal Court Theatre
Are morals dropped at the first sign of trouble and civilised people will ‘devour’ each other? Written by Cordelia Lynn and directed by James Macdonald, One For Sorrow examines this hypothesis up close.
‘Impressive work from a playwright to be taken seriously’: ONE FOR SORROW – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★
For all my scepticism about the views expressed by some characters, I decidedly think this is impressive work from a playwright to be taken seriously and it’s only very slightly too long and under-resolved.
‘Raises expectations it doesn’t quite deliver on’: ONE FOR SORROW – Royal Court Theatre
It could be the November 2015 Paris terror attacks, except this time it’s happening in London. And it is also the powerful start of Cordelia Lynn’s new play, One for Sorrow, which has just opened at the Royal Court’s upstairs studio space.
‘A stylish restoration’: THE WAY OF THE WORLD – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
The latest Restoration comedy on offer in London is the Donmar Warehouse’s sumptuous production of William Congreve’s The Way of the World that stretches into the night for more than three hours.
‘A full period-dress production, executed immaculately’: THE WAY OF THE WORLD – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
This is a full period-dress production, executed immaculately but probably needing another few cuts to be unalloyed joy. The plot is labyrinthine, with a wordy torrent of finely honed wit and derision, fuelled by greed more than love.